When her disastrous marriage ends in the
most humiliating way, Meg Hanson doesn't know what to do or who to
turn to. Unhappy with her life as it was and unwilling to become what
her mother and sister envision, she retreats to the little
Appalachian town of Preston's Mill, the place where her father was
raised. Meg has promised herself six months away from the influences
of home to find out who she is and what she really wants out of life.

Her Great Aunt
Annie doesn’t hold with such nonsense, but she does believe that
good food, hard work and fresh country air have the power to heal the
soul and she sees in Meg a soul that belongs to the mountain.

Coming
from wealth and privilege, Meg isn’t sure at first what to make of
a place where much of your wardrobe comes from Gorton’s Farm Supply
and the only coffee available is what’s brewed at the Downtown
Café. However, it doesn’t take long for her to become attached to
the people of Preston's Mill with their blunt honesty and strange
speech or to reluctantly fall for the boy who kissed her under the
apple tree when she was only ten. He’s grown into an intriguing man
with problems of his own.

Artist JT Preston
is burdened with his family’s past sins, sins that prevent him from
seeking the life he’s always envied and longed for. Annie thinks
this is nonsense, too, and sets about bringing Meg and JT together.

When a coal company
makes plans to begin mining the mountain, Meg finds herself in the
middle of the battle between those who consider it progress and those
who see it as the end of a way of life. Greed rears its head, people
are hurt and lives are endangered, Meg’s most of all.